In recent years, a trend towards electronic trading has become well-established, causing one major exchange after another to replace or at least supplement the traditional open outcry, where a trade is done face to face, with automated, electronic systems which automatically match bids and offers. While the motivation behind using electronic trading may vary from market to market, greater efficiency and volume are some of the considerations.
Electronic trading is generally based on a host exchange, one or more computer networks and client devices. In general, the host exchange includes one or more centralized computers to form the electronic heart. The exchange allows a trader to participate in trading at least one tradeable object, and conducts matching of bids and offers that are placed by the subscribing traders for that tradeable object. Typically, subscribing traders connect to an exchange by way of a communication link and through an application program interface to establish real-time electronic messaging between the exchange and their terminals. The real-time electronic messaging includes market information that is sent from an electronic market to the traders.
An electronic exchange can list any number of tradeable objects. Often times, traders will simultaneously trade more than one tradeable object, and they may simultaneously trade tradeable objects that are listed at more than one exchange. Ordinarily, each tradeable object has its own separate stream of market information. Therefore, in these instances, the traders will generally receive more than one stream of market information such that each stream of market information will characterize a given tradeable object. In addition to receiving market information from exchanges, a trader could also subscribe to news feeds to receive real-time quotations that may assist the trader in making his trading decisions.
Generally, when a trader submits an order to a host exchange, the host checks the conditions associated with the order, for example, price and quantity, and prioritizes the order with other orders at the same price. When the order conditions are satisfied in the market, a trade occurs and the trade information is then relayed in some fashion to one or more client devices such that traders can have access to the most current market information.
Market information commonly includes information regarding the inside market and market depth. The inside market is the lowest sell price in the market and the highest buy price in the market at a particular point in time. Market depth refers to quantities available at the inside market and may also refer to quantities available at other prices away from the inside market. The quantity available at a given price level is usually provided by the host exchange in aggregate sums. In other words, a host exchange usually provides the total buy or the total sell quantity available in the market at a particular price level in its data feed. The extent of the market depth available to a trader usually depends on the host exchange. For instance, some host exchanges provide market depth for all or many price levels, while some provide only quantities associated with the inside market, and others may provide no market depth at all. Additionally, host exchanges can offer other types of market information such as the last traded price (“LTP”), the last traded quantity (“LTQ”), and user-specific information such as order fill information that is sent to a user associate with the filled order.
Traders interact with electronic exchanges using trading screens. Trading screens allow traders to view market information as well as any news or charting applications on which traders may base their trading actions. Upon viewing the provided information, traders may use trading screens to take certain actions including the actions of sending buy or sell orders to one or more electronic exchanges, adjusting existing orders, deleting orders, or otherwise managing orders. Traders may also use software tools on their client devices to automate those and additional actions.
In many instances, spotting an opportunity in the market and capitalizing on it before the market moves or before a competing trader does can separate those traders who are successful from those who are not. Often, trading schemes require monitoring of market information related to multiple tradeable objects, as well as monitoring news and/or charts from many different sources. An important component in capitalizing on an opportunity involves quickly assimilating information and then quickly acting on that information to get the order to the exchange for matching. In many instances, the size of a trading screen limits the number of windows or the amount of information that can be simultaneously displayed to a trader. As the number of tradeable objects being traded by a trader increases, the ability of the trader to quickly access and view desired information will be therefore further reduced.
Thus, it is desirable for electronic trading applications to offer tools that can assist a trader in trading in an electronic trading environment, help the trader making profitable trades in a speedy and accurate manner, while allowing the trader to control the trading screen display.